Satya Nadella is the CEO of Microsoft, and he and his wife Anu have three children. Two of them have special needs.
Zain, the first child, was born blind quadriplegic and had cerebral palsy. He passed away in 2022 at the age of 26.
Zain’s parents fought hard to help him live a happy life. Now, they’re determined to help others with disabilities.
Zain Nadella
Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella and his wife Anu have suffered the sad news of their son Zain’s death. The 26-year-old passed away on Monday morning after a long battle with cerebral palsy.
According to a report in Bloomberg, Zain died of cerebral palsy, which is a motor disability that affects the movements of the body. The condition may result from damage to the brain before or at birth.
“Zain will be remembered for his eclectic taste in music, his bright sunny smile and the immense joy he brought to his family,” Jeff Sperring, chief executive officer of Children’s Hospital in Seattle, wrote in an email shared with Microsoft executives.
The Nadellas say Zain’s journey has helped shape their family’s story into one of resilience, empathy and determination to realize the promise of a better future for children with neurological conditions. And it has given them a mission to empower people of all abilities to achieve more.
Tara Nadella
When Satya Nadella first took over as Microsoft CEO in 2014, he made it a priority to design products that would better serve people with disabilities. He cited his son, Zain, who is legally blind and quadriplegic, as inspiration for this commitment.
Since Zain’s passing, Nadella and his wife Anu have committed $15 million to Seattle Children’s Hospital. They’re also planning to establish the Zain Nadella Endowed Chair in Pediatric Neurosciences as part of their Center for Integrative Brain Research.
One of Satya’s daughters, Tara Nadella, is reportedly born with a learning disability. She was unable to learn from nearby schools, so her parents turned to an academy in Vancouver that focused on brain neuroplasticity.
The family devoted five years to the academy, which eventually moved to Redmond, Washington. It was a difficult time for them, but their love for their daughter has kept them together.
Divya Nadella
Divya Nadella, the youngest daughter of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, has kept herself out of the spotlight. This has led to a lot of misinformation about her age and her education.
Nevertheless, Divya is a smart girl with an out-of-the-box mindset. She has been an integral part of the Microsoft family, helping to lead the company through the cloud computing transformation.
She also has a learning disability. Her mom, Anu, was able to find the right solution for her by enrolling her at Vancouver’s Eaton Arrowsmith Academy. The school specializes in brain neuroplasticity, which trains the mind to function at a higher level.
Anu had to drive her daughter back and forth to Vancouver, but eventually helped establish the academy’s second branch in Washington. It was a long road, but she persevered. Divya is now a confident young woman, and she and her husband are enjoying their family life in Bellevue.
Parents
The family of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is going through an emotional time. Their 26-year-old son, Zain, died on Monday and the whole family is mourning.
Zain is the first child of Satya and Anu Nadella. He was born through an emergency cesarean and weighed just three pounds. He was born with an abnormality called cerebral palsy.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, around 3 out of every 1000 children are born with this condition.
Despite the rare condition, Zain was an active and energetic boy who enjoyed playing outside with his siblings. He also grew up loving and relating to people.
As parents, Satya and Anu Nadella say they were able to use Zain’s disability to teach their other two daughters empathy. This quality is critical in helping them see the world from different perspectives, he says.
Fortunately, the Nadellas found help at Vancouver’s Eaton Arrowsmith Academy, which specializes in brain neuroplasticity. For five years, Anu drove their daughter to and from the school in Canada until she helped set up the second branch of the academy in Washington.
